The ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of New Zealand’s domestic netball league continues to take its toll, with players describing the immense emotional toll of the situation and the damage to trust resulting from Netball NZ's failure to confirm its plans for a 2027 competition.
A privatised league backed by Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams loomed as the sport’s saviour, only for the national body to withdraw from negotiations just eight weeks after signing a term sheet with the investors.
The predicament has left players like Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and former Silver Ferns defender Erena Mikaere riding a rollercoaster of emotions, as she faces the stark reality of losing her job and a pathway for the next generation of aspiring netballers, of which her own daughter is a part.
“It's been quite devastating, actually,” Mikaere told TVNZ Breakfast on Wednesday.
“The biggest devastation to me is we don't know what the future of our netball looks like, and I obviously have a 17-year-old daughter, and that has been breaking my heart because it's seeing those girls unsure of the pathway to get to the dreams that they see ahead of them.
“For myself, it's been uncertain for a long time. I thought I was quite a strong person and I'm naturally all right with everything, but I've slowly seen it take a toll on my life at the moment. It’s like any uncertainty with work and income and things like that. It takes its toll slowly but surely.
“When the news (of the privatised league being scrapped) came out it blindsided me because I was happily telling people that no, it looks positive for a solution. To add that to my month has been quite shocking.”
Earlier this week, Netball NZ CEO Jenna Wootten said the arrangement with Mowbray-Williams had fallen over due to the absence of “key principles and objectives”, claiming the final proposition wouldn’t be beneficial for the long-term state of the game in Aotearoa.
Mikaere and her colleagues discovered the collapse of the franchised league via an email leaked to media –a “regrettable” situation Wootten later apologised for.
Wootten insisted Netball NZ was in “advanced plans” in establishing a concept for a new competition they’d begun work on earlier this year and were currently negotiating with possible broadcasters.
Yesterday, Williams told RNZ he had no plans to launch a rebel domestic competition, ruling out another lifeline for players.
The events have left a fissure in the relationship between the players and Netball NZ, with Mikaere conceding the lack of trust needed to be urgently addressed.
“I think it definitely needs to be rebuilt in some sort of way. Like anything, you have to be given things over time to seed that trust - just for us purely to come back to the table and have that korero around what can we do from here? How do we create solution-based situations for our league and what's going ahead?
“Just purely being the part of the conversation would be the first step, and then yeah, not so much, but that kind of not being spoken to is is the first part of building that trust.”
Former Silver Fern Maia Wilson echoed those sentiments, telling 1News the “track record of what’s gone on prior” with Netball NZ had done considerable damage to the players’ level of trust with the governing body.
At the age of 38, twice-capped NZ international Mikaere said she’s not yet at a stage where she’s ready to draw a curtain on her almost 16-year professional career.
“I'm not ready to give up the sport that I love so much,” she added.
“Grassroots is thriving at the moment, and it has been for a long time. So for me, it's been quite heart wrenching.
“I'm not ready to finish. I love the sport, and I was wanting to leave the dress in a better place than I found it, and it seems I may have to wait more than 10 years for that if this is the way it continues.”
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including record breaking early voting and Olivia Dean's punishment for breaking curfew. (Source: Breakfast)
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